I'll be damned if 'business interests' are going to dictate who gets to march in a parade in my city. This is still the U.S., and this is still San Francisco. Tell Ms. Pak to go ahead and try to move the parade to Oakland. I encourage her to try. She'll be out on her ass quicker than you can say 'Falun Gong'. Stand up for the rights of the powerless, not the powerful.

Where do I get my Falun Gong t-shirt?

And one to Daly, the guy on the board doing all the protesting:

To: dalyweb@sfgov.org

Subject: where is Daly's email address?

Wanted to encourage him to continue to fight for Falun Gong's inclusion in the Chinese Parade...

And one to Ross Mirkarimi - a Green!

To: Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org

Subject: support Falun Gong inclusion in SF Chinese Parade...

Hi Ross,

Would love to see a Green take a stand on this issue. It seems pretty straightforward.

My name is Peter Smith. I called to register my...I guess it's not really a complaint...to register my displeasure that Southwest is supporting the Chinese Parade in San Francisco which is not allowing the Falun Gong group to march in the parade. I didn't think that Southwest would want to be a part of something like that.

Thank you very much!

I'm sure I'll do more on this later...

UPDATE: Southwest got back to me. Amazing. I think they thought I was a reporter or something. I'll call them back to clear things up, but that's cool that they called back.

I have added Macy's and Federated to the list of sponsors of the Chinese Parade who support banning Falun Gong from participating in the event. If you wish to be removed from this list, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Thank you.

I just thought of something - this issue, believe it or not, is actually something that those crazy-ass wingnuts should be able to get behind, too. Can you imagine? The fuckin crazy wingnuts could actually do something to promote democracy instead of doing what they usually do - deter it. Amazing. Let's see if those lazy fucks will get off their asses. Fuckers.

UPDATE:Daly plays Falun Gong issue like a Stradivarius - I'm not sure why this article's title is so anti-Daly, but I only skimmed the article text, so can't comment yet either way on its substance. Not enough coverage out there yet, so I'm linking to it - good or bad.

UPDATE: (Incomplete) List of sponsors below. Please contact them any way you can and let them know that 'freedom of religion' is still something you very much believe in, and you don't want any form of religious discrimination in your beautiful city by the bay. The lists starts from the biggest sponsors down to the smallest.

Harrah'shttps://www.harrahs.com/CustomerServiceTO contact Harrah's online, you have to give them your name - or, a name - and your email address - or, an email address if you want them to respond. I Sent this form to Harrah's:

And I wrote a couple more briefs notes using the online forms I found above.

This one to Harrah's:

I don't believe it is right for the Chinese Parade to exclude from Falun Gong from marching in the parade. This is America, not China, and we still have some 'freedom of religion', and good company's like Harrah's should support the best of America.

I ask that you please ask Chinese Parade to allow Falun Gong to march in the parade. If they refuse, I would ask that Harrah's immediately pull your support - financial and otherwise - for the Chinese Parade.

Thank you very much.

This one went to McDonald's:

Please withdraw your support from the Chinese Parade in San Francisco, as they are not allowing Falun Gong to participate in the event.

Thank you.

Typos, spelling mistakes - blah. Can't we all just be excellent to one another?